


The Soulmates

by Persiflage



Series: Mashed Up Tropes Fics [23]
Category: Holby City
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - TiMER Fusion, Bernie Wolfe: World's Okay-est Lesbian, Erotic Dreams, F/F, Mash-up, Mild Sexual Content, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Alternating, Serena Campbell: Bisexual Extraordinaire, Soulmates, Trope de Trope, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28787481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: TiMER (movie) fusion: Both in their 50s, Bernie Wolfe and Serena Campbell, have yet to meet their soulmates. Until now.
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Series: Mashed Up Tropes Fics [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960414
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	The Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an Anon for the Mashed Up Tropes Meme on Tumblr, for the tropes: 24. Soulmate AU and 88. Erotic Dreams.
> 
> NGL, I read and loved [kellsbells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kellsbells/pseuds/kellsbells)' Warehouse 13 fic, [TiMER](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3919222), so when an Anon prompted me for Soulmate AU, that was immediately where my mind went, so I looked up the details of the TiMER movie by way of a reminder, then wrote this. (It's not based on the movie, I just borrowed some of the details, eg the TiMER devices.)

If asked, surgeon and Deputy CEO of Holby Hospital, Serena Campbell wouldn't be able to recall the last time she’d actually looked at the TiMER device on her wrist. She’s aware of it, of course, particularly every time she scrubs in or out for a surgery, but she doesn’t take any notice of the details of the numbers on the countdown. She’s 51 years old and has long since stopped believing in soulmates. Which means that she’s in for a massive shock later today.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Trauma surgeon and ex-RAMC, Major Berenice ‘Bernie’ Wolfe, has been aware of her TiMER device’s countdown numbers getting lower and lower of late, but then she’d got blown up by a roadside IED while working in Kabul, and right now it’s the last thing on her mind as she struggles to regain her former fitness and strength. In fact, she’s currently got both wrists covered by wristbands as she makes her way home at a slow pace following her most recent physiotherapy session at the hospital. She’s approaching her favourite coffeeshop and wondering whether to stop off for a pastry and a coffee, or whether to keep walking (on the grounds that stopping might make starting again that much harder), when a brunette comes hurrying out of the coffeeshop, and both their TiMER devices go off simultaneously with a quite astonishing amount of noise.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Serena Campbell’s absolutely gobsmacked when, on her way out of her favourite coffeeshop, her TiMER device goes off very loudly at the same as that of a blonde woman standing a few paces in front of her.

 _How on Earth can my soulmate be a woman?_ she wonders desperately. Admittedly the woman is rather attractive in a soft butch way (she thinks that’s the proper term – Elinor had explained it to her recently on a rare visit home when they’d both been in _Albie’s_ after Serena’s shift at the hospital had finished). The blonde has deep dark brown eyes, a hawkish nose, sharp cheekbones, a thin upper lip, and notable collarbones visible inside the open neck of the pastel pink button down shirt she’s wearing together with a pair of skinny black jeans and Doc Marten boots. She is also, Serena notes, leaning heavily on a couple of silver, NHS-issue, walking canes, and the surgeon in her kicks in.

“I think we’d better sit down, don’t you?” she asks the woman quietly, not wanting to draw any more attention to them both than has already been drawn by the noise of their TiMER devices.

The woman nods, looking grateful. “Please.” Her voice is low and pleasantly husky, and Serena forces herself to ignore the way her stomach flips at the sound.

She steps in closer and asks, “Want to lean on me?”

“Thank you.”

Serena takes one of the canes from the woman, then slips her right arm around the woman’s upper back and helps her into the coffeeshop she’d just exited. “I’m Serena, by the way, Serena Campbell.”

“Bernie,” the woman gasps out, listing heavily against Serena just as they cross the threshold of the coffeeshop.

Serena gets her into a chair, taking her other cane from her and leaning them both against the wall behind them. “Where are you hurting? Anything I can do?”

“Back, leg, chest,” Bernie mutters. “Just came from physio. Muscle spasms. Painkillers in my pocket.”

Serena nods, then looks up and sees the woman who had served her earlier coming over. “Can I get some water for my friend, please?” she asks, and the young woman nods, then hurries away. “Which pocket, Bernie?”

“Back right.”

Serena stifles a groan at the realisation she’s going to have to effectively touch Bernie’s ass in order to get at the painkillers, then takes a deep breath, accidentally inhaling the scent of Bernie’s light floral perfume, before sliding a hand into the pocket of her jeans. She pulls out a strip of a prescription painkillers that she knows is fairly powerful and hopes that they will help.

The young woman appears with a bottle of chilled still water just as Serena sets down the strip of tablets on the table in front of Bernie. She cracks open the bottle, then checks that Bernie can get the pills out of the strip without assistance.

She’s so busy worrying about whether or not Bernie’s going to be okay that it takes her a moment to notice when two dark-suited individuals loom up alongside their table.

“Congratulations Ms Campbell, Ms Wolfe,” says the older black woman. “You have found your Soulmate.”

“Um,” says Bernie, who’s just swallowed two of her painkillers. “Thanks?”

“Thank you, I’m sure,” Serena says, wondering who they are.

“I’m Ms Martin and I’m from TiMERCorp,” the woman says, apparently noticing her confusion. “My colleague and I are here to see you to your temporary furlough home.”

Serena gives the woman a very blank look, then looks at Bernie, who’s looking equally baffled, to her relief.

“Our what?” asks Bernie.

Ms Martin frowns. “Your temporary furlough home. Have you forgotten that when Soulmates connect they get a month of furloughed time to spend getting to know each other to discover what kind of Soulmates they are?”

“What kind?” repeats Bernie, and Serena feels grateful that they’re both confused about this situation.

Ms Martin looks around the coffeeshop which, while not busy, nevertheless has quite enough people in it who are pretending to ignore the presence of the TiMERCorp agents, while avidly drinking in every word they can overhear.

“We have a car outside,” she says. “Why don’t we adjourn there, and I can answer your questions and give you any further information that you might require before we take you to the furlough home.”

Serena looks at Bernie who gives her a slight nod, her face still looking pale and drawn from the pain. “Very well,” she says, then helps Bernie to her feet and guides her back outside, following Ms Martin, who opens the back door of a black saloon car, and Serena helps Bernie into the back seat before climbing in beside her.

The so-far-silent young black woman with Ms Martin gets into the driver’s seat, and Ms Martin gets into the front passenger seat.

“We have discovered, over the years, that some Soulmates are platonic Soulmates – they become each other’s closest friend and confidante, but there is nothing romantic or sexual about their relationship. Your month long furlough away from the distractions of work, family, and other friends, will allow you to discover what sort of Soulmates you are. There will be no pressure from anyone else to conform to any particular form of Soulmate bond. You won’t be obliged to spend the entire month locked away from other people – many Soulmates use their month of furlough to spend time doing things they already love or to discover new things together. TiMERCorp will have a car on hand at all times to take you anywhere you wish to go, and there will be a couple of agents stationed nearby to assist you.”

“What about my therapy appointments?” Bernie asks, and Serena’s pleased to see a little more colour in her face when she looks at her – a faint pinking along her cheekbones.

“We can drive you to and from your appointments, or we can arrange for the therapists to come to you,” Ms Martin says.

“I’ll have to go to the physiotherapy appointments at the hospital,” Bernie says. “I use the hydrotherapy pool once a week, and the other two appointments involve the use of her specialised equipment.”

Ms Martin nods. “Ms Mackie will be your designated driver,” she says, nodding at the young woman in the driving seat. The young woman gives a brief wave.

“I’d like to talk to my psychologist,” Bernie says. “She might be willing to come to me.”

“Of course.” Ms Martin turns to Serena. “We have, of course, already notified Mr Hanssen that you’re now on Soulmate Furlough.” 

Serena blinks, then swallows, before nodding. “What about clothing, toiletries, and other personal items?” 

“We’ll drive you to your homes to pack a bag with whatever you think you’ll need for a month. Meals can be provided, or if you prefer to cook, there’s cooking facilities available, and you can order whatever ingredients you need, and they’ll be delivered.” 

“Very well.” Serena looks at Bernie, who just nods, and she can’t help thinking the other woman is still looking drawn. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

An hour after her TiMER device went off and turned her life upside down – as if the IED hadn’t already done that six weeks ago! – Bernie Wolfe is installed in the TiMERCorp appointed furlough home, in actual fact a rather pleasant cottage on the outskirts of Holby. Ms Martin had had both Bernie and Serena driven to their respective homes – Bernie’s rather barren flat and Serena’s lovely looking leafy detached – where they’d each packed a bag, or in Serena’s case a couple of suitcases, and then they’d been brought here. They’d agreed that they’d rather have the TiMERCorp people provide a meal for this evening, so they’ve been left to get to know each other, and won’t be disturbed again until 7.30pm when dinner will be brought to them.

As soon as Ms Martin and Ms Mackie have gone, Serena leaves Bernie sitting on the sofa in the large sitting room and wanders around the cottage to find out what facilities they have available to them.

“It’s a decent kitchen,” Serena tells her when she returns. “And a bathroom with a large clawfoot bathtub of the kind you see in period dramas.”

Bernie chuckles at that. “What about a shower?” she asks. “I’m not up to climbing into bathtubs at present.”

Serena nods. “There’s a walk-in shower with enough room to swing a cat in, should you be so inclined.”

“Good to know, although cat swinging’s definitely off the agenda for now.”

“And there are two bedrooms. I suppose that’s in case the Soulmates discover they’re not romantic or sexual Soulmates.”

Bernie nods. “Would you prefer not to share?”

Serena shifts awkwardly next to her. “I’ve never been more than friends with a woman,” she says. “I had a couple of drunken snogs with women when I was in medical school, but it was never anything serious.”

Bernie gives her an awkward smile. “That’s fine. Honestly, Serena, I don’t mind if we discover we’re platonic Soulmates.”

“What about you?”

Bernie frowns. “What about me what?”

“Have you ever been more than friends with a woman?”

She nods, watching Serena closely. “I’m actually a lesbian. I dated a few guys when I was in my late teens and early twenties. One even proposed to me, but I was never really excited by the idea of having sex with men. I was 25 the first time I kissed a woman and that was when I realised I was actually kidding myself that men interested me sexually.”

“That must have been some kiss,” Serena teases.

Bernie can’t help smirking at that. “Oh it was, believe me.”

Serena’s mouth falls open at the deliberately flirty tone Bernie’s adopted, and she flushes right up to the roots of her hair, and down to her chest, and Bernie doesn’t even realise she’s licking her lips until Serena’s eyes flit down to her mouth. She wonders what it would be like to kiss Serena, but she doesn’t suggest it or even try to make a move as she doesn’t want to scare the other woman so early in their furlough.

“Is there any food available for lunch?” Bernie asks, and Serena’s eyes snap up from Bernie’s lips and she lifts a hand to fiddle with the pendant she’s wearing.

“I – uh – I didn’t look.” She gets to her feet quickly, stumbles slightly, then hurries into the kitchen and Bernie decides she’d better not flirt any more.

“There’s a loaf of bread and a bag of bread rolls in the bread bin, and there’s a selection of sandwich fillings in the fridge, along with jars of jam, marmalade, and marmite in one of the cupboards.”

“Well, after my strenuous physio session, I could do with some lunch to refuel me,” Bernie says, and struggles to her feet. She hates the canes that they gave her upon her discharge from the hospital, but she knows how necessary they are if she’s to avoid falling over.

She settles at the kitchen table, and Serena gets out the bread rolls, then sets out the sandwich fillings from the fridge. Bernie immediately grabs both the cheese and ham, needing both protein and calcium and layers them into two of the big crusty bread rolls, adding lettuce and tomato as well. Serena settles for cream cheese in her bread rolls, and they drink fruit smoothies with their sandwiches.

“I’m sorry,” Bernie says once she’s finished eating. “I think I’d better go and lie down, or I might fall down.”

“Of course,” Serena says immediately. She gets up, passes Bernie one of the canes, then wraps her right arm around Bernie’s upper back as she had outside the coffeeshop and helps her through the cottage to the stairs. The staircase is too narrow to ascend side by side, so Bernie reclaims her other cane and goes up first, with Serena following close behind in case she gets into difficulties.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

While Bernie’s resting upstairs, Serena makes herself a cup of coffee, then grabs a murder mystery book from the bookshelves that run the length of the back wall of the sitting room. Deciding that it’s too nice a day to remain indoors when she has some actual time off, she takes herself into the back garden where she finds some well appointed patio furniture. She sets her mug of coffee on the table, then moves one of the recliners nearer to the table, before settling down to read. 

An hour into her book, she falls asleep quite by accident. She soon finds herself dreaming of a blonde haired, brown eyed woman with an interesting face and a slim figure. At first the dream’s innocuous enough: she and the blonde are having a picnic lunch on the back lawn of the cottage. Then the blonde starts feeding her titbits: strawberries dipped into a small tub of cream, grapes, and pieces of chocolate. When one strawberry drips its cream onto Serena’s bikini-clad chest, the blonde leans in and laps the blob away, her tongue then flicking out and lapping at her sun-warmed skin somewhat lower than the spot where the cream landed. Then the blonde’s head dips lower and that clever tongue flicks at her nipple over the thin fabric of her bikini top.

Serena groans, then clasps the back of the blonde’s neck and holds her head in place as the other woman pushes the fabric aside and wraps her lips around the now stiffened nipple and suckles energetically.

Serena wakes with a start, heat flushing her chest and between her thighs as desire coils in her belly. _Oh_ , she thinks, startled, but not entirely displeased.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Bernie is sound asleep, worn out by her physio session at the hospital, when the dream starts. It seems pretty mundane at first: she and a brunette with sparkling brown eyes and a cleft in her chin are having a picnic lunch on the back lawn of the cottage where she’s now staying. Then she starts feeding the brunette titbits from the picnic: grapes, strawberries dipped into a small tub of cream, and pieces of dark chocolate. When one of the strawberries drips its cream onto the brunette’s bikini-clad chest, Bernie leans in and laps the blob away, her tongue then flicking out and lapping at the other woman’s sun-warmed skin rather lower than the spot where the cream landed. Then she dips her head lower and flicks at the woman’s nipple over the thin fabric of her bikini top. The brunette groans, then clasps the back of Bernie’s neck and holds her head in place as she noses the fabric aside and wraps her lips around the now stiffened nipple below and suckles energetically.

Bernie awakens from a frankly delightful erotic dream to find herself in a strange bed in a strange room with her hand rammed down the front of her boxer shorts. It takes her a few moments to realise that she’s in a cottage owned by TiMERCorp after encountering her soulmate this morning. The soulmate about whom she’s just had one of the best erotic dreams she’s ever experienced to judge by how soaked her fingers are. She can feel herself hovering on the brink of a climax and she doesn’t hesitate to push her fingers deeper in order to bring herself off with just a few quick, firm strokes.

 _Well, that answers that question, then_ , she thinks, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. Serena is definitely her romantic soulmate. She wonders how she’s going to convince the other woman of this fact, given she’s already stated that she’s never so much as kissed another woman before.

Before her thoughts can turn to ways to convince Serena that they’re destined to be lovers there’s a tap at the door and she’s calling out “Come in” before she remembers that her hand is _still_ inside her boxer shorts.

To her surprise, Serena smirks as soon as she sees her, which is when she realises just where her hand is, and she snatches it out abruptly.

“Enjoying some ‘me time’, Major?” Serena asks in a teasing tone.

“Having a fantastically erotic dream, actually,” Bernie tells her, determined to convey to the other woman that she’s quite capable of flirting for England should the need arise.

Serena moves from the door to stand at the foot of the bed, her eyes raking up and down the length of Bernie’s body in a frank appraisal. “Mmm. I just had one of those. Involving a picnic and some strawberries dipped in cream.”

Bernie gives Serena her best, most devilish smirk. “Is that right, Ms Campbell?” she asks, her voice purring.

“It is.” Serena climbs onto the end of the bed, then proceeds to crawl up its length until her body is positioned over Bernie’s as she pauses on hands and knees above the blonde. “Perhaps you dreamt the same thing?”

“You looked gorgeous in a two piece pastel pink bikini,” Bernie offers.

Serena gives her a Cheshire Cat dream, which is invitation enough for Bernie to wrap an arm around the back of the brunette’s neck, then guide her head down for a passionate kiss.

“Do you have a pastel pink two piece bikini” she asks hopefully once they pause to catch their breath.

“I’ll get one,” Serena assures her. “Urgently.”

“Mmhmm.” Bernie’s slim, dextrous fingers busily unfasten Serena’s silk blouse, then cup the full breasts she finds within. “Don’t think we’re going to need one,” she observes, flicking the pad of her thumb over stiff nipples. “Do you?”

“I don’t believe we will.” Serena purrs her agreement.

Bernie’s left arm wraps around her waist to pull Serena down atop her body. “C’mere you,” she murmurs as her right hand slides down Serena’s torso towards the apex of her thighs.

Serena groans loudly. “Bernie?”

“Mmhmm?”

“I don’t think there’s anything platonic about our Soulmate relationship, do you?”

“Not in the slightest.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](https://pers-books.tumblr.com/post/629591566601895936/24-88-please-im-living-for-these-ficlets).


End file.
